Wörld of Metal Gazetteer: Beyond the Dead Kingdoms

Kristhall

Land of Unblack Metal

This small state exists in a sheltered valley to the north of Magherall. It is ruled by an iron-fisted theocracy presided over by the Witchfinder General Arteus Radiant. All the people of Kristhall are devout and militant worshippers of the Crucified God. They price they pay for order and unity is the oppressive harshness of the regime and the constant crusades into Fyrotherre and Vikrölsandr. Foreigners are disliked and mistrusted in Kristhall, and pagans if discovered are executed and hung from the church towers.

Most adherents of the Crucified God live in Kristhall, but they are also allowed to go abroad and give up the more aggressive aspects of the religion in a practice called taqiyya. Such wanderers often serve as missionaries, witchfinders or secret agents of Kristhall, and are usually called by the general term of cleric.

The blacksmiths of Kristhall have taken the Black Metal of the mountains and forged it into Holy Unblack Metal, which as the name implies is brilliant white. Holy Unblack Metal is antithetical to magic, which is considered inherently evil by the faith. Spells cast on Unblack armour will fizzle, Unblack weapons will dispel illusions, and Unblack Metal dust, if inhaled or ingested, will wholly nullify a wizard's spellcasting abilities until it passes out of the body. Outside of Kristhall, this metal is most prized for its ability to banish extraplanar monsters back to their home plane.

Sounds like: Horde, Antestor, Armageddon Holocaust.

Cipangu

Land of Japanese Metal

On the far side of the dead kingdoms lies the eastern nation of Cipangu. The Oriental people of this realm are united under the rule of the dreadful Dawn Emperor, who rides on a palanquin lifted by thirty naked slaves. All the feudal lords of Cipangu are said to be incurably insane, either crouching in their tall fortresses or sallying forth with vast armies to pillage each others' farmlands. Every so often, the Dawn Emperor decrees a new khanate under which all the lords must unite to invade other lands, usually in the west. However, they are continually stymied by the barrier of awful Carceron.

The people of Cipangu are skilled in many strange martial arts and unique weapons. They are known to dip their blades in poison to which they have become immune by ingesting small doses since birth. The most fearsome of their warriors are the corpse-samurai, who grow their hair long, paint their faces white, and go into a trance where they believe themselves to be dead.

Cipangu's mines and smithies produce a unique alloy that the bureaucrats of the Dawn Emperor have classified as J-Metal. J-Metal has the ability to transform its shape when commanded by the wielder. Thus, a J-Metal sword can turn into an axe, a spear or any other weapon. A talisman of J-Metal can take any form, which is important for worshipping the eight thousand gods of the Cipangese religion. Rumour has it that a Cipangese explorer recently returned from the west, having seen the cars of Thundersands and the robots of Harthrakken. He is now petitioning the Dawn Emperor for the funds required to build a J-Metal robot that can transform into a car.

Sounds like: Sigh, Maximum the Hormone, Onmyouza.

Next time on Wörld of Metal Gazetteer: Out of This Wörld.